


Drifting Ash

by SpitfireUSN



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Jason “Jay” Miller, Nightmare, OMC - Freeform, other characters will be added as I go, outbreak
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-02 20:44:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16312382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpitfireUSN/pseuds/SpitfireUSN
Summary: Things are happening in Truth or Consequences. And no ones really sure it’s not a nightmare. The operators do all they can to try to make it stop, but that’s difficult when you don’t know what you’re fighting.





	Drifting Ash

**_I don’t know how to continue Eye to Eye so I’m doing this instead. Outbreak + my oc: Jay. Needless to say, not many people are going to be having a good time here. So I guess I’ll just jump right into it._ **

**_Thanks for  Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_ **

**_~Spitfire out_ **

Ash drifted down continuously. It was like a never ending rain. Except it _wasn’t_ ash, not _really_ , but that was the only word for it. The black crystalline spires, Jay was pretty sure the ash came from them, the red glow and almost fire-like quality to the whole infection. It all felt like a nightmare. A wicked dream he couldn’t wake up from. But it was _real_ . _Too real_.

You didn’t experience pain in dreams, not _really_ , your brain could simulate it, but if you actually felt it, you’d wake up, thus, this _wasn’t a dream_ . He was very much awake and very much in a _bad_ situation.

They’d brought in the global anti-terrorism unit on a whim, on the off chance that _maybe_ this was some new bio weapon the White Masks had concocted. It wasn’t. There was no way this was _real_. The black spires were crystalline and brittle, they’d break if you hit them or shot them enough times, but the large creatures covered in it, the ‘smashers’, the armor was nearly impenetrable. He’d only seen them taken down by shots to the glowing red mass on their backs.

The red.. _stuff_ , seemed like a nerve center, like the virus was _alive_ . A parasite, taking hosts and infecting and spreading. They’d yet to determine how exactly the disease spread. The French doctor Rainbow had sent theorized that it was a blood and bodily fluid based infection, if you came into contact with the infected with an open wound, or _heaven forbid_ , they got _inside_ . A bullet to the brain seemed a small mercy. The infected suffered extreme fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, irritation and agitation, an aversion to water and cold, fatigue, loss of appetite, vomiting. It was like a mutated rabies virus in the way it behaved, making the victim appear weak and helpless and in need of dire assistance, before lashing out, going for the throat, sometimes literally, to infect the unfortunate soul who tried to help them, and that was when the virus _really_ took over, the point of no return, when the virus would enact it’s final attack on the host and turn it into… whatever the virus deemed it needed. A grunt, a breacher, smasher, rooter, or an apex.

The Frenchman, _Doc_ , was all but confined to the quarantine tent, examining and studying the virus. His communication with his team, a woman with red hair and a personality to match, a Russian that seemed _very_ fond of his LMG, a Texan pyromaniac, and two people who were apparently newer to Rainbow, recruited specifically for the outbreak. A Russian woman with a scar on her face, and an arrogant Frenchman Jay often caught praying when they weren’t busy. Finka and Lion Rainbow’s new CBRN unit. Technically, Doc, Thermite, and Ash were part of it as well, apparently. Thermite and Ash’s only expertise on the situation were tactical plans, provided by the woman. And _not_ so tactical plans, from the Texan, along with his… _explosive_ expertise.

“The virus is spreading rapidly,” Ash spoke authoritatively, “But we stand a chance at slowing it down at the very least. We’ve located a primary nursery in a hot springs resort.”

“We’re gonna torch the place,” Thermite took over, his casual Texan twang somehow making the situation feel _less_ severe, “Three main supports holding their little ‘ _system’_ together.” He held up one of his explosives packages, “These babies will make quick work of it, but it’ll take a minute to cut through, so you’ll have to defend them. No doubt the roaches will swarm once they figure it out.”

Jay hated every moment of this. Every moment someone was infected and sentenced to death because there wasn’t a cure. They had to keep it from spreading, they had to hold the quarantine, keep the virus from getting out, from getting out of control. It already was out of control. They were barely containing it.

“The virus seems sentient,” Doc said, folding his arms over his chest, “It takes over the host and it evolves and learns. We must exercise caution. We have lost _too_ many people to this disease.”

The infected _weren’t_ zombies. They weren’t dead, at least not until they had been gunned down. These people had a parasite controlling them, and the parasite was _smart_. It learned their movements, their tactics, their _patrols_. It _ambushed_ people who went in to look for survivors. _It created new versions of itself_ _to deal with whatever they threw at it._ Before long, the virus would undoubtedly be able to outsmart them, get past the quarantine, spread and infect until nothing was left but _it._ The Rainbow operatives were calling it Chimera.

Jay huffed at the name. It was a parasite, calling it a chimera suggested the infected people had been born with it. But, he supposed, it seemed the virus changed something in the _core_ of _who_ a person was, their dna itself, mutated it and twisted it for its own purposes. _Chimera_ would do.

“This is where we turn the tide,” Ash concluded, “or drown.” There was a sense of finality to the statement, _kill or be killed_ , Jay had always hated the notion.

This was a chimera that had to _die_ . Jay didn’t care that the virus was alien, had come from a space capsule. He didn’t _care_ that there was research potential, that the virus could provide many scientific and medical advancements. They’d never be able to _contain_ it, let alone _study_ it. It was smart and malicious and it _had to die._

Rainbow was in agreement, the parasite had to be destroyed. So they sent teams after whatever nurseries and colonies they could find.

* * *

 

Being out in the Red Zone felt surreal, like a nightmare. Breachers roamed and investigated, before they inevitably caught wind of their small team and attacked, only to be shot and killed. Grunts who’s virus hadn’t enacted the change yet meandered through the streets, arms wrapped tightly around themselves, skin ashen, and eyes glowing red, until they got closer and the black tendrils formed their arms into spear-like weapons and sharpened teeth and sent them into a blind bloodlust.

There was a smasher standing guard outside of the facility Jay’s team was set to attack. Huge and imposing with the muscle and armor to back it up. But they were apparently blind, and it was easy enough to get it charging towards you so your teammates could get a shot at its weak spot and dive out of the way at the last moment. They were large, slow, and dumb, but it took _ages_ of leading it in circles to kill it.

Still, with it laying dead, none of this felt real. They moved inside the building, ash still drifted in the air, though the air was thick and stagnant. The walls groaned and the roofs creaked and cracked. Black tendrils looked to be stitching it all together, reforming it into something suiting its purpose.

Jay _felt_ the scream in his bones as the first of the grunts charged them. It was as if the building itself was screeching, angered by their presence. Breachers mixed into the hoard. When it was clear they weren’t slowing down the parasite sent a rooter. It disappeared and reappeared and slashed at their armor with its clawed feet and spear arms, black spines and tendrils shot through the floor, seeming to attempt to grab and hold them, but it was the brittle stuff, and easy to break free of. Eventually the parasite would learn, and none of the growths would be brittle and easy to break.

It took them a moment, but they killed the rooter as well and moved deeper into the nightmare. It was quiet now as they moved aside from the ambient sounds of the structure struggling under the parasite’s grip.

They made it to the spires holding the nursery together and Jay found out why it had gotten so quiet. All the infected had gathered here to defend the nursery. There were hundreds and none of them came through the fight without having close calls and tears in their uniforms.

Jay was setting the second charge when he heard it. A heavy step, a guttural roar, the wall across the room was smashed in as it charged them. Jay dropped the charge in shock and dived out of the way of the blindly charging monster. He was still on the floor when he brought his rifle up and took shots at the monster’s back, stealing it’s attention from the Russian setting up his gun.

Jay was scrambling for his feet when the creature’s swinging log of an arm caught him in the chest and threw him into the wall ten feet away.

Jay felt the drywall crack under him, especially where his head lashed back into it. He looked up, vision dancing and tilting nauseatingly, in time to see the smasher charging at him, and Tachanka chambering the first round in his LMG before opening fire.

The bullets hit it at the same time _it_ hit him.

Jay couldn’t stop the shout that forced itself from his lungs, along with all the air in them. He felt ribs give under the the pressure as the monster let out another guttural roar that _definitely_ wasn’t human. It stumbled backwards, roaring and slamming it’s arms into whatever surfaces it could reach, Tachanka still shooting, the other man, _Kapkan_ , had disappeared to the side somewhere, but the beast was being shot from more than one place, so Jay knew he was nearby.

Jay collapsed to the floor like a ragdoll once the smasher was far enough away that it didn’t hold him up anymore. He groaned, drawing his arms in to cradle his ribs, and his knees up to his chest to make himself small.

Black spots danced in his vision, it hurt to breathe. _Broken ribs_ . There was a heavy thud and Jay lifted his head to see the smasher on the ground, dead. Grunts were screeching now, the fight wasn’t over, the parasite followed on the heels of the smasher’s attack and flooded them with grunts and breachers, it wasn’t giving them _any_ breathing room.

Jay forced his arms away from his chest and forced himself upright, a pained groan making it through clenched teeth. He looked around for his gun. _Gone._ He reached for the pistol on his thigh and sat back heavily against the wall that was crumbling to pieces, one more good hit and it was done for, Jay thought. He brought up his pistol in a shaking hand and leveled it, he took careful shots at the beasts clawing for them now, but he only had so much ammo, and these low calibre rounds could only do so much against their armor.

The hoard fell off and retreated and the building seemed to scream in pain as the charges torched the spires. Jay looked and saw that his dropped charge had been planted. The nursery was burning now and Kapkan hauled him to his feet.

Jay let out a pained gasp as his ribs shifted and latched his arm around Kapkan’s shoulders to keep himself up, free hand coming up to cradle his chest. The hunter gripped his wrist and put an arm around him to support him.

“Thermite, this place is done,” Tachanka was on comms in the moment that it took them to ensure they were safe, “but we have wounded, send Jäger.”

“Jäger was brought down en route to pick up Lion’s team, no word yet but they’re heading for the crash site. I’m rerouting a National Guard helo to your position hold tight,” Thermite responded.

“Tell them to hurry, I don’t want to be out here longer than I have to, place gives me the creeps,” Tachanka replied and looked over at Jay and Kapkan, “Let’s get out of here, da?”

* * *

 

“No nausea, or odd fatigue?” Doc questioned from behind the screen, clipboard in hand, a precaution, Jäger had undergone the same treatment when he’d been brought back.

“No, just the pain and shortness of breath,” Jay answered, and would’ve shrugged if he could do so without hurting himself, “But I got ribs poking my lungs so that’s to be expected…”

“Oui,” Doc agreed, “And your head? How do you feel?”

Jay thought for a moment, assessing himself with an absent hum, “Alright, a bit dizzy, wicked headache, that’s about it, I’m not slurring right? Concussion isn’t too bad…”

“You are speaking fine,” Doc assured with a nod and made notes on his clipboard, “You will have to rest here for the night and we will see tomorrow how you are.”

Jay nodded his understanding and laid back carefully. To his knowledge, Jäger was confined to a strict quarantine, so he counted himself lucky that his would be short lived.

He’d been fine in the physical examination, just bad bruising all around his chest and back. The infection was reported to start as a black rash that flaked like ash and burned like fire, inside and out. Jay hadn’t experienced any of that, so he was fairly certain he was still clear of the parasite.

Jäger on the other hand… he had been brought in with a fiercely bleeding wound. Doc had patched him up and examined him, but it was hard to say whether he’d been infected or not, especially when they didn’t even know what had brought him down in the first place. All Jäger had reported seeing was a flash of red and black, failing systems, and then _nothing,_ and all he had heard was the scream of the virus, a roar almost, but different from a smasher, he’d said. Jay wasn’t sure he _wanted_ to know what had taken Jäger out of the sky.

The painkiller Doc had given him before binding his ribs eased him off into a deep sleep. He was thankful to the drug for keeping the nightmares away so that he could, for once, sleep until morning.

When he woke, he was greeted by a geared and masked Lion on the other side of the screen.

 _Physical exam part two,_ Jay guessed and sat up stiffly. Lion entered and immediately began looking him over without a word. Jay could understand the cold attitude, best not to chat and get friendly with someone who could still be infected.

Gloves hands pressed into a bruise and Jay hissed at the flare of pain before the pressure was gone and all that was left was a dull ache. The wrap keeping his ribs in place loosened and Lion began unraveling it, Jay helped it along as much as he could, which was minimal, but Lion hummed a thanks anyway. A hand pressed gently into the middle of his back, Jay guessed he was checking for fever, and on finding nothing notable, fingers ran over the prominent bruises, checking for any possible signs of the rash that accompanied the infection. He moved around to his chest before long and his touch was much lighter, careful of his ribs. Lion checked his neck, his face, and the back of his head where it had initially collided with the wall.

The process took a few minutes as Lion was thorough, not wanting _anything_ to slip by unnoticed, but eventually he stepped back and nodded, “You’re clean,” he declared, and took his mask off.

Lion offered him a hand up and Jay took it, standing carefully, one arm coming up to cradle his ribs.

“Come, Doc will need to re-wrap your chest.”

Jay nodded and followed Lion to the tent Doc was in. This was one of the few tents not lined with explosives that would go off if someone made a misstep. It was technically a ‘housing’ tent, with four cots lining the space and a few chairs crammed around a small folding desk.

Lion’s wrist controller beeped at him and he turned his back to them, lifting his wrist as Doc approached. Lion left with no more than a grunt and Doc guided him off and sat him down.

Doc was quick and efficient in wrapping Jay’s ribs and giving him another dose of painkillers before handing him a clean shirt.

He was left alone for a moment, giving the painkillers time to work before he had to move and get back to work. That was all that would end this nightmare, _work._ The sharp minds and sharper skills of Rainbow. He noticed belatedly that the shirt he’d been given had the unit’s emblem on the breast.

He shrugged it off as having been what was available and stood, walking around the impromptu medical tent and straightening supplies and papers. Notes on the infection, he recognized a bit of French on one. He didn’t know French. Doc did, of course, Jay assumed these were _his_ notes, and straightened the haphazard piles. _Odd_ , he mused, Doc seemed the kind to be very orderly and meticulous. He guessed the pressure and exhaustion was getting to him.

Jay stepped away from the table and left the tent. Doc was standing outside, arguing with a geared up Lion in French.

“What’s going on?” He asked curiously, stepping up to the pair.

They looked at him and Lion was first to speak, “My drone has detected a mass of the infected moving towards the camp. We need to intercept them and stop them before they break quarantine.”

“From what we’ve observed they _don’t move like this unprovoked_ . It is more likely they are simply wandering, as they _always_ do,” Doc rolled his eyes.

Jay raised an eyebrow at him, “You want to take that chance? When the parasite learns, evolves, and adapts? Immediately after taking out several nurseries across town? I’d say it’s provoked _enough_ , and we’re better safe than sorry.”

Lion nodded triumphantly and Doc sighed. Lion left to gather a team.

“There anything I can do?” Jay asked, folding his arms neatly behind his back.

Doc looked at him a moment, “Non, you need to rest. Two days _at least_.”

Jay frowned, “I can’t do _nothing_ …”

“I’m not asking you to do nothing, I’m telling you to take it easy. Nothing strenuous.” Doc walked away, not giving Jay the chance to argue.

**_Okay so there’s that. Set the tone I hope. I’m trying to make this feel very surreal and dreamlike, but it is very difficult and something I’ll need to practice to get right lol. Let me know what you think and any ways I can improve what I’m going for!_ **

**_Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_ **

**_~Spitfire out_ **


End file.
